“Congo-reka!”

One Africa Team Missionary Keegan Dowling and WELS Pastor Joel Seifert recently visited the Democratic Republic of Congo. Here is their story:

Just to date myself, I’m a fan of the Oklahoma rock group Flaming Lips. One time they released an album—four discs (dated again!)—meant to be played simultaneously—called “Zaireka”. They wanted a name that evoked chaos and joy… and Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or DRC) was the ultimate byword for chaos.

Not so, on OAT’s travels to Lubumbashi, a busy, thriving mining city in the southeast of the DRC. We need the government’s permission to go there and offer workshops to the confessional Lutheran church group—the MELC—with whom we are exploring the possibility of fellowship. The intelligence officers monitor OAT missionaries’ visits closely, both for their good and for ours. We have heard that they are happy to have us visit so that we can spread the word that Lubumbashi is safe, orderly, and open for business.

But we’ve also heard that they like what we’ve been teaching. As they’ve read reports of our pastoral training workshops, they’ve mentioned that they think the content—the Small Catechism of Luther—is wonderful. The Gospel Word is spread, sometimes in surprising ways.

In November, Missionary Keegan Dowling and OAT Adjunct, Pastor Joel Seifert, presented their second training workshop for the pastors and evangelists of the MELC, who came to Lubumbashi from as far away as Kinshasa in the west and Manono to the north. On Wednesday evenings, Missionary Keegan continues to hold French-language doctrinal studies on Zoom with the leaders of MELC.

Thank you for whatever ways you’ve been supporting this new mission field! Congo-reka! And soli deo gloria. Peace.

Missionary Keegan Dowling lives in Lusaka, Zambia.

Please pray for those working in fields that are ripe for harvest. Share their story, engage with future news, and receive updates. Learn more about our mission fields in Africa and how the Holy Spirit is working faith in people’s hearts at https://wels.net/serving-others/missions/africa